Thursday, May 14th 2015. Ascension Day, Hamar 19 km + 2 + 2 to go from hostel to center and vice versa

At 2.30 am. at night dawn begins.
We leave with wonderful weather towards Hamar, an ancient town with the remains of a more than 1,000 years old cathedral. Unfortunately for me and for my  visitors this is the last day of their visit, before returning to the Netherlands.
Along the way we arrive at an old brewery, located next to the clubhouse of a golf club. There must also be an opportunity to eat. Indeed, greeted by everyone, like we are fellow golfers, we order waffles with whipped cream and coffee, for prices that are twice as high as we are used to home. Norway is one of the most expensive, if not the most expensive, country of Europe. While we still wear 3-4 layers of clothing, sitting here those enormous Norwegian bodies are sitting here with bare arms and legs to brave the cold. It makes us laugh. Ha, ha.
In Hamar I first am guided by my fellow runners to my hostel. The Vandrerhjem is located in one of the shelters for the winter games of Lilehammer of years ago. A small room with a bed, shower, toilet, heating, TV and more, while the big dining room and garden are common. Not bad.
From there we  walk to Hamar, where we spend the rest of the afternoon on a patio. We have lunch, I eating mine plus a portion of Sonja’s (one of the advantages of my marriage!). And then a huge piece of cake (plus remainder of that of Sonja, of course) so I get enough calories for the rest of day.
I am looking for a camera shop to replace my broken camera. Found! All closed today, so tomorrow morning back to that store. This morning I left the charger for my GPS batteries somewhere in some outlet. Hehe! Well, I can buy duracelbatteries. So on my way I also searched those. And so one keeps busy.
After departure of Sonja ,Oesj and Paul by train to Oslo, I will return to my Vandrerhjem for the usual activities: tomorrow’s route to Pilegrimsherberget Konfirmantsalen just past Brumunddal, emails, sms, view weather report etc. Pauls guidebook wants me to walk to Lilehammer in four daysbut I want to do that route in three days. That’s very puzzling. Where are lodges for the night? Are they open? What does it cost? Is there food or should I carry it with me? Is there a kitchen? Ability to do shopping? Do I have to make reservations? Dogs welcome? Finally I found something in Veldre, 27 km. further direction Lilehammer. I still got a pizza and c’est ca for today.